Cupcakes and Coldwater

Yesterday we took a drive through Beverly Hills, and our first stop was for sustenance ... cupcake-style.

I went through my Sprinkles phase a couple years ago, but it's always nice to visit an old addiction. For those of you who haven't been to this little bakery, it's an adorable closet-sized storefront on Little Santa Monica Blvd. The cupcakes themselves, (right, courtesy of Sprinkles) range in flavor from chocolate marshmallow and red velvet to pumpkin and cinnamon sugar. They have a minimalist design and are usually topped with their signature modern candy dot.

The cupcake craze has really taken this city -- and the country, for that matter -- by frosting-thick storm. Another addition to the L.A. cupcake world is the East Coast-based Crumbs, which, in addition to its location on Larchmont, has edged close to Sprinkles territory mere blocks away on Little Santa Monica. (It was actually considered the Cupcake War of 2007.)

After ordering our half-dozen, we headed up Beverly Drive to the base of Coldwater Canyon, where its eponymously named park often plays host to celeb babies. We didn't see any famous progeny yesterday, but C enjoyed sharing shovels, tricycles and her ladybug ball with the other tykes.

On the drive back home, we headed up Coldwater to Mulholland Dr. to take in the windy roads and gorgeous views of the San Fernando Valley on one side and downtown Los Angeles on the other.

It was a perfect drive, so perfect that C hit her internal snooze button and drifted off into sugary slumber.